While everyone is talking about how many offensive players were taken early in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, it's hard not to notice the lack of defensive players drafted. Thankfully, the Indianapolis Colts decided to break the draft trend and picked the first defensive player in the draft.

With the no. 15 pick, the Vikings took UCLA football pass-rusher Laiatu Latu. Sure enough, given how long the NFL world waited for its first defensive player to be taken, it also set some history.

Prior to the 2024 Draft, the latest a defensive player was taken was in 2021 when the Carolina Panthers selected cornerback Jaycee Horn with the eighth overall pick, per Yahoo Sports. In this year's rookie selection, though, teams were so focused on taking offensive players that the defensive prospects were largely overlooked.

Six quarterbacks were selected in the first 12 picks, marking the fewest overall picks needed for six QBs to be drafted.

Considering how many talented offensive players there are in this year's class, though, it shouldn't really be a surprise why defensive players were not the main focus of various NFL teams.

Laiatu Latu heading to Colts

Laiatu Latu's draft pick by the Colts is certainly an interesting one, especially with the injury concerns that teams have on him heading to the NFL Draft. For those not in the know, Latu suffered a neck injury in 2020 while in Washington and was forced to medically retire.

However, in 2021, Latu received clearance to play from Dr. Robert Watkins, who was known for treating Peyton Manning when he had neck injuries during his career. But with Washington's medical personnel refusing to clear him to play, he transferred to UCLA in December of the same year and was eventually able to return to action in June of 2022.

Sure enough, while Latu proved in UCLA he can play at a high level–tallying 23.5 sacks, two interceptions and 34 tackles for loss in two years with the Bruins–his injury history still raised red flags. He would have been a higher pick had it not for those concerns, with his medical reportedly splitting teams. In ClutchPoints' final mock draft, Latu was projected to go no. 18 to the Seattle Seahawks.

The Colts, however, opted to take a chance on him as they look to bolster their defense. Clearly, Indianapolis is one of those teams who liked what they saw from Latu's medical.

“The Colts take the first defensive player of the NFL Draft: UCLA pass-rusher Laiatu Latu. Medically, he got as good reviews as you can ask for. And now, he's in Indy,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network shared after Latu's selection.

It will definitely be interesting to see how Latu will perform with Indianapolis and if his injury history will be a concern moving forward. For now, though, he can celebrate making history as the top defensive player in the 2024 class–at least based on the order of picks.